A Rose by Any Other Name
by xfmoon
Summary: Who is who? Red John has everyone puzzled. A story about hypnotism and family. Multi-chaptered AU fic. Rated T to be sure.
1. Chapter 1

**A/N:** Okay I'm going to babble a bit, so feel free to skip ahead to the story.

First of all it's an AU fic. And if you sit down and really think about the plot, it probably doesn't make sense. More about this in the end, otherwise I'll give it all away.

This is my first multi-chaptered fic so please be kind and tell me if you think I should just stick with one shots or if this is okay. Personally I don't like the ending, but I always have a hard time with endings so that might not have anything to do with it being multi-chaptered.

I wrote it as one long story, but I felt it needed to be divided into chapters. And granted I do upload the whole thing at once, 'cause I'm really not a fan of waiting for stuff, _("patience, you gotta have patience woman" _well, I have none) so anyways I don't want to put others through that either, but still. That and I don't like to leave things unfinished for people to see.

The chapters will vary in length depending on where I found I could actually put a brake in the story.

Also I kinda wrote this in two goes, so if it at some point seems to change in style or continuity, or it doesn't make sense anymore or anything else you'll know why.

**Disclaimer: **If you think I own 'The Mentalist' I'd be as good a hypnotist as Jane, and I have never hypnotized anybody in my life, ergo I don't own it.

I don't own the title either, it comes from William Shakespeare's 'Romeo and Juliet'.

**Spoilers:**There are some minor spoilers for these epis: Red Sky in the Morning, The Crimson Hat, Red Bulls but I'm pretty sure you wouldn't really notice them or recognize them as spoilers, unless you've seen the episodes anyway.

* * *

_We are what we think._

_All that we are arises with our thoughts._

_With our thoughts we make the world._

_- Buddha_

He was the best. He'd done it. He'd done it and no one suspected anything. It had been 10 years now and Jane was still none the wiser. What he'd done that night was his greatest achievement, his masterpiece. Sure he'd done some grandiose work after it, the whole Kristina Frye thing had been quite elegant, but _this,_ this was his Venus de Milo, his Mona Lisa, his Eiffel Tower.

And now it was time for the grand finale, the revelation of the unharmed woman inside the magician's box. He had awaited this moment with anticipation, ever since he first set the plan in motion. It had been 10 long years. Patience was indeed a virtue and the prize at the end of the rainbow was worth more than a pot of Irish gold. This was it. Time to reveal the man behind the curtain. The master. Him. Red John.

**xXx**

Vrrrr, vrrrr. Phones nowadays were so user friendly, letting people know just by the sound they make what type of message to expect. In this case the two buzz's indicated a text message. Lying on his beloved couch, Patrick Jane lifted his phone from his inside jacket pocket and opened his eyes a tad to look at the display. The message read _'Happy 10th Anniversary. Come home. I have a present for you.' _He bolted upright, his eyes automatically seeking out Lisbon's office. No one was there, the bullpen was empty as well and the rest of the CBI was swaddled in darkness, people had long since gone home. From the countless of times Patrick Jane had run off alone over the years, he'd eventually learned it was never a good idea. So he called Lisbon. He listened. Ring, ring. _'This is Teresa Lisbon, please leave a message and I'll call you back.'_ It went to voicemail. It never did that. Not a good sign. He contemplated calling one of the others, but figured if Lisbon was in trouble he had no time to waste.

He arrived at the house that once was his home. Cautiously he entered. When he reached the living room, that was supposed to be empty, he stopped. In front of him stood a man, but he wasn't alone. On his one side stood a young girl with light brown curls, on the other stood Lisbon. None of them were tied up, they just stood there.

He looked from the girl to Lisbon and back a few times. There was something eerily familiar about the girl. Finally one word found its way to his mouth: _"Lisbon"_ he uttered, his voice merely above a whisper. She didn't respond. Didn't move. None of them did. The man smirked. Anger welled up in Jane, but he didn't move, afraid of what might happen if he did. Instead he yelled out his frustration. _"What have you done to them?"_

The other man's grin widened until he reminded Jane of the smiley left behind like a calling card at too many crime scenes. There was no doubt about this man's identity. He was Red John. _"No, no, Mr. Jane, you got it all wrong. It's what __you've__ done to them."_

_"What?!"_ There was a slight confused pause. _"What the hell is that supposed to mean?"_

_"You mean you don't know? You have absolutely no clue?"_ The man said, rejoicing a little more with every word he spoke.

Jane just stood there dumbfounded, he couldn't see what the man wanted him to. _"What do you want from me?" _

_"Me?! I want you to suffer. I don't take kindly to people slandering me or my work." _

_"You already made that pretty clear by murdering my family. What do you want from me now? I've done nothing to upset you."_ His eyes wandered back to Lisbon and the girl, both still standing like they were frozen to the spot, looking out at some point in the distance.

_"You are trying to hunt me down and kill me, are you not?"_ The man said. Jane didn't reply, so he continued. _"That's ok, I forgive you for that."_

Contempt lingered in Jane's eyes, where did that deluded freak get off from offering him absolution.

Another beat, another moment passed. _"You must be wondering why I brought you here."_

Jane still didn't respond, letting Red John have his moment in the spotlight.

_"I'm disappointed Mr. Jane, you're by far, one of the best and you haven't figured it out by now." _

_"Why don't you just tell me then?"_ He was getting tired of this game.

_"Ok if you insist, I will."_ The man kept smirking while he lightly placed his palms at the small of the back of either woman, making Jane shift nervously for a moment. Then he pushed them gently forward saying: _"Mr. Jane, meet Angela and Charlotte."_


	2. Chapter 2

**Disclaimer:**Nope nothing's changed since chapter 1.

* * *

Shock cursed through his body and made him stand absolutely still as the women, now "awake", ran over and threw themselves around his neck. Involuntary his body reacted by wrapping his arms around the both of them. Holding them tightly he closed his eyes and inhaled their scent.

Red John stood smugly observing the scene that displayed itself in front of him.

Another moment passed before Jane got full control of himself again. Still holding on to the women, he opened his eyes and looked at the other man. _"What sort of mean trick is this?"_

_"No trick I swear."_ Came the man's reply.

_"Why would you hypnotize them to make them think they're my family? Just to torture me more?" _

_"No. You've got it all backwards, Mr. Jane. I didn't hypnotize them to make them believe they're your family, I hypnotized them to make them forget that they are." _

Jane's sheer disbelief expressed itself in a single syllable. _"No."_ Red John's words swirled around in his head. _"No you couldn't have."_ He whispered. _"It's not possible. You're just trying to mess with my head."_

_"Messing with people is not my style, I value the truth above all else." _The sardonic little prick sounded so full of himself.

_"I know who my family is. I buried them 10 years ago." _

_"That's where you're wrong Mr. Jane. You buried two people, that's right, but they were no more related to you than you and I are related."_ Now that was a scary thought.

_"What exactly are you saying?"_ Jane's voice shook slightly and he tightened his grip around the girls, who again seemed to have slipped into a more or less catatonic state.

_"I'm saying, your family is alive and well." _

_"No it can't be true. I don't believe you. I would remember." _

_"Are you sure, Patrick?" _He was personalizing it now.

_"I wouldn't forget my family. I WOULDN'T!" _

_"But you did!" _

Silence followed as Jane once again closed his eyes and let his hand run up and down in calming strokes on Lisbon's… or was it Angela's back.

When he opened his eyes they were filled with tears.

_"You're not so sure anymore, are you?" _The gloating in Red John's voice was not lost on Jane.

_"Where's your proof? You don't have any proof." _

_"You're my proof, Mr. Jane." _

_"What is that supposed to mean?" _

_"I'm ready to show you, if you're ready to see!" _

Jane needed to know, and Red John knew it. Averting his eyes in shame Jane nodded almost imperceptible. He wasn't ready, but if there were even the slightest chance that this could be true he needed to know.

_"Ok, then."_ said Red John and clapped his hands together, rubbing them against each other a few times like an exited child. _"Let's get this show on the road, shall we? Ladies come on back over here." _

_"No!"_ Jane said trying desperately to hold on to Lisbon, but both her and the girl wiggled themselves free of his grasp and went to stand behind Red John again.

_"Don't worry, no harm will come to them."_ Red John could see that Jane wasn't convinced, so he said reassuringly: _"I haven't harmed them yet, have I?" _That however didn't ease Jane's insecurities on the matter, but for the moment he'd play along.

_"What do you want me to do?" _

_"I want you to remember the night you think I killed your family."_

_"You want me to remember? I know what happened that night, forwards and backwards, I could recite it in my sleep if I had to."_ Jane was getting angry now, this was going nowhere.

Red John didn't take notice, and even if he did nothing in his features betrayed him. _"Just close your eyes and take deep breaths." _

_"You've got to be kidding me. Are you seriously going to try and hypnotize me?" _

_"You think I'm not capable, is that it? Because I've done it before, exactly 10 years ago." _

_"You're saying you hypnotized me into forgetting my real family, then killed somebody else and made me believe they were my family. That is outrageous! It's just not possible!" _

_"Your bullheaded rejection of the matter is almost funny."_ Red John's voice pitched a little more than usual, his eyes had turned black and his smile had been replaced by an evil smirk, like the ones you see on the face of the evil queen in fairy tales. _"I can give you Lisbon, you can walk away now never looking back, and I'll give you my word I won't come after you. Or you can stay and I'll give you the truth on a silver platter. It's as simple as that."_

_"But why would you do that? And why now all of a sudden?" _

_"So many questions, Mr. Jane. You'll have to choose first, then I'll tell you what you want to know." _

Jane contemplated for a minute. He really wanted to just take Lisbon and go, she wouldn't remember what had happened and she'd be safe, they both would. But what about this other girl, what would happen to her? And what about his sworn revenge? If he left then he would have accepted that Angela and Charlotte were the ones he found in that room 10 years ago, but he'd never be able to avenge them. And if he stayed he had a chance to get his family back, a chance to let go of his guilt, to start anew, to be free and happy again. In the end there was only one right choice.

_"I'm staying." _

_"I knew you would, but just remember curiosity killed the cat." _Now he was warning him against himself, was that supposed to be a joke? Jane just couldn't quite figure this man out, but he didn't budge, he'd made his choice.

_"Let's sit down, shall we?" _

There were no chairs so they sat down on the hardboard floors.

_"Are you relaxed, Mr. Jane? I need you to be relaxed or this might not work." _

He clearly wasn't, and though the man very likely might lie he needed to ask this to relieve one of his concerns about this venture they were undertaking: _"How do I know that you're not trying to hypnotize me now, into believing this new lie of yours?" _

_"I guess you don't." _

"Well at least he's honest about some things." Jane muttered to himself under his breath.

_"You just have to trust me. And I'm sure someone like you will know the difference between a hypnotic suggestion and reality. But then again if the last 10 years are any indication, you might not." _The cruelty behind that statement sent chills through Jane's spine. He was scared, but did he really have a choice?

_"Now Patrick, I need you to close your eyes and take long deep breaths."_ With a worried glance Jane looked over at Lisbon and the girl one last time - they were also sitting down on the floor, although still staring out into space - then he closed his eyes and did what he was told.


	3. Chapter 3

**Disclaimer: **Still not mine.

* * *

_"Take deep calming breaths, in and out, in and out. You feel more relaxed with every breath. Now…" _Red John tapped Jane very lightly on his upper right bicep. _"I want you to go back to that night, I want you to go through the front door and tell me what you see."_

_"I'm in the hall. There are no sounds everything is quiet." _

_"Where do you go now?" _

_"I go into the living room. And I see my wife sitting on a chair, her back is to me, she's just sitting there. I can't see my daughter. Something feels wrong. I look around. There's nothing, no one else. I go over to my wife. As I get closer I see she's holding our child tightly to her chest. Resting her head on our daughter's. Their hair filters together, two different shades of brown curls. I put a hand on her shoulder and kneel down beside her. I lift her head and see tears, she's scared." _

_"Okay Patrick. That's good. Now are you absolutely certain this is your wife?" _

_"Yes."_ There was no hesitation in his answer.

_"Then I want you to look very closely at her. Focus. Study her face and tell me what you see." _

_"Her face is framed by her thick, dark hair. She has sea green eyes, they're beautiful, expressive, they can look straight into your soul. Her skin is soft and filled with freckles. She has a dimple when she smiles and… and… Oh my God!, Oh mY GOD! It's Lisbon!" _

His eyes flew open, and he realized he was panting. _"But... What... What in the... What the hell is going on?... What did you do?" _

_"Me?!"_ He pointed a finger at his chest. _"Haven't you caught on by now Mr. Jane? I don't do things to people, they do it to themselves." _

_"This can't be happening. It is not true. This is made up. It's a lie! It's all a lie!"_ They were both standing again.

_"Are you sure Patrick?" _

_"Just give me Lisbon back. I changed my mind. Just let us go." _

_"Would you really abandon your child again? Leave her here with me. Are you that heartless?" _

_"I don't know her. She's not my child. She isn't Charlotte. Charlotte's dead. This is not her." _

_"Oh that poor kid, being denied by her own father. Lucky for you she can't hear you right now, or you might have broken her heart." _

_"I don't want to play this game anymore. I don't know this girl. You can put her back where you found her." _

_"And then you want me to do what exactly? Restore Agent Lisbon? Go back to ignorant bliss. And what would Teresa say if she found out you refused to save an innocent girls life? Her own daughter even." _

_"Just shut up! That girl is not Lisbon's daughter and she's not mine either!" _

_"Really? You don't see anything familiar about her features at all? No family resemblance?" _

_"So she looks like us, that doesn't make her ours. You probably choose her because of that fact." _

_"So suspicious and distrustful you are, Mr. Jane." _

_"It's hard not to be. You've taught me that."_ He was calming down a little. _"What do you want for the girl?"_

_"What on earth do you mean?"_ It was Red John's turn to be confused.

_"What will it take for you to 'restore' her,"_ he made an exaggerated quotation mark gesture with his hands on either side of his head, while saying the word restore. _"... so I can take her back to her real parents." _

_"You don't get it, do you Mr. Jane. She's already home." _

A faint creasing formed above Jane's eyebrows.

_"Look I'll make you a deal Mr. Jane. I'll 'un-hypnotize' them both,"_ He mimicked Jane's previous quotation mark gesture, _"provided you agree to owing me a favor. I can call on you to do anything, anytime in the future and you'll have to do it, otherwise you already know the prize of defiance."_

This was a dangerous path, Jane realized that, but his other options were slowly being depleted one by one. _"Okay I'll do it, under one condition. I won't have to kill anyone." _

_"Deal." _

_"Good. Now un-hypnotize them and let us go." _

_"As you wish."_ This seemed a little too easy, which made Jane think that the serial killer mightn't be done playing games.


	4. Chapter 4

**Disclaimer: **I'm just repeating myself now. I don't own a thing.

* * *

Red John spoke in hushed tones to both Lisbon and the girl, then touched their left bicep and as if by a stroke of magic they both "woke" up.

_"Jane? What? What happened, where am I?" _

Red John was the one who responded. _"No reason to fret Ms. Lisbon."_ Lisbon jumped, having not noticed the man standing right beside her.

_"Who are you? Jane what's going on?"_  
"Lisbon, come over here." Confused as hell, she did as Jane said, not feeling the greatest of vibes about the situation she had unknowingly been thrown into. Then she saw the girl, and her perplexity grew. What had happened? Why couldn't she remember? And who were these people?

The next one to speak was the girl, who looked just as bewildered as Lisbon felt. Her focus was on the other man when she said: _"Dad, what's going on?" _

Just hearing those words made Jane's blood freeze, that's what he'd meant by saying she already was home. If Red John had spoken any truth about his family's demise that would mean that his daughter had been raised by this monster. That thought made him sick, it was too much, he staggered and almost fell had it not been for Lisbon's steady hand holding him up.

_"Okay someone needs to tell me what the hell is going on right now."_ Not being in control of the situation made Lisbon crazy and hence she was getting worked up. No one answered her, but the girl who hadn't noticed Lisbon before turned and looked at her with wide eyes and her mouth hanging open. Jane could see that something was about to happen, but both he and Lisbon drew back a little when the girl practically ran over and hugged Lisbon tightly.

_"Mom, you came back."_ Jane looked at Lisbon who looked at the girl like who-the-hell-is-this-crazy-girl-hugging-me.

Jane wanted to, but he didn't have time to explain. _"Okay that's enough, you promised to unhypnotize them."_ He was addressing the man who was currently looking like a self-satisfied Cheshire cat.

_"Jane, just tell me what's going on."_ Her tone had shifted from angry to almost begging. He ignored her.

_"We have no deal, you and I are finished!" _

_"Mr. Jane, I did restore them to the people they've been for the past 10 years. That's what you wanted right, having Lisbon back." _

_"Jane what is he talking about? And who is...?"_ She was gesturing down towards the girl who was still hugging her.

Jane still didn't answer, but Red John did. _"That's your daughter."_

She shook her head. _"No, no Sir. You must be mistaken. I have no children, and I definitely have no one with you. I don't even know you."_ The confusion in her voice was back again.

_"Well..."_ He dragged out the word like he was tasting it and tilted his head slightly to the side. _"You're half right. Isn't she Mr. Jane?" _

_"Jane?!"_ There was the begging again. Jane half expected her to stomp in the floor like a belittled child.

_"Are you staying with us mom?"_ The girl hadn't seemed to notice one bit that her "mom" had denied their relation in any way. The girl was still in some sort of a trance, Jane looked at Red John with hate in his eyes, it wasn't right to mess with people's mind like this.

_"Sorry. I'm not your mom, I'm not."_ Lisbon told the girl apologetically, but she just looked at Lisbon and smiled. And right there, at that moment, something hit Jane. He'd seen that smile before, and was that a faint trace of a familiar dimple. No it couldn't be. There was no way. Red John saw the small hint of recognition flash over Jane's face, and was filled with delight at the sight of victory.

_"I love you so much mom, I'm so glad you're back."_ Lisbon got herself disentangled from the girl, bowed down a little so they were at eye level, then said very insistently: _"Listen to me. I'm __not__ you mother!"_

Jane knew it was a wasted effort, there was no point trying to explain anything to the girl at the moment. _"Don't bother Lisbon. She's under hypnosis, she won't understand."_ Lisbon straightened herself up and sighed with resignation, giving him a look that showed just how lost she felt.

He directed his attention to Red John once again. _"It's your move, I can't figure out what it is you want me to do anymore." _

_"So far I've done everything you wanted me to. I hypnotized you, I unhypnotized them. And you're free to leave at any time." _

_"That's great. Come on Lisbon we're leaving." _He grabbed her hand and pulled her towards the door. Still in a haze she followed, but hesitantly, looking back, as they went, at the girl and the man who was staring them down as they left. When they entered the hall something dawned on Lisbon.

_"That was Red John, wasn't it?"_ The question hung in the air for a minute, somehow making the place feel heavier.

_"Yes it was."_ Came the admittance.

_"And you're just gonna leave?... without killing him?" _

_"Yes." _

_"What about the girl? We can't just leave her in there, all alone with him." _

_"I don't think he'll harm her and besides you don't understand Lisbon. He said things." _

_"WHAT?! That's the worst excuse I've ever heard come out of you, or anybody else for that matter. What could he have said that was so awful? I refuse to leave that girl in the hands of a madman, I don't care who the hell she is."_ And with that she yanked her hand back and disappeared into the living room.

Leave it to Lisbon to pick this time to go into full-on cop mode. This wasn't exactly the right time to be a kindhearted heroine, but that was just like his Lisbon. And there was no stopping her if she had picked up the scent of unrighteousness or injustice, she was like a dog with a bone, or rather a bloodhound. So he followed suit back into the tiger's den.*

_"Ahh, back again so soon?" _

Lisbon didn't take the bait, there was no more kidding around. _"Hand over the girl right now!"_

_"Not so fast, my dear. I need something in exchange." _

_"What?" _

_"Hmm. Since you're the one that wants her, I want Jane. I should have known that a mother's instinct don't go away so easily. That's why you're so protective of your team, they're your substitute children." _

_"I don't know what the hell you're talking about, and I don't care. I'm not giving you Jane, you give me the girl, NOW!"_ Her hand went to her hip, then she realized she wasn't armed, and her arms fell slack to her sides, her hands clenching into small fists.

_"Ey such hast you have. And such temper. I see you like the feisty ones, Patrick. I'll give you a little hint, so do I."_ He whispered the last part conspiratorially. And watched gleefully as Jane tried to restrain himself, from running over and hitting him. This was going great, maybe not exactly as planned, but the deviation wasn't major, so he continued on. _"Deep down you know I'm right, Teresa. You feel an inexplicable emptiness. One that this girl was supposed to fill."_

_"You're not making any sense. Don't you think I'd know if I ever had children? It's not something easily forgotten." _

_"Have you not seen Mr. Jane do much more extraordinary things than making people forget?"_ She didn't have to answer his rhetorical question, he could see just from the tiny twist of her eyebrows that she indeed had._ "Then ask yourself this agent, what can an extraordinary mind like mine accomplish?" _

She looked over at Jane, who had remained uncharacteristically quiet during their conversation. He just looked at her with sad eyes that said please don't listen to him.

Lisbon was getting increasingly irritated, which scared Jane and delighted Red John. Both their focus were on this tiny woman who stood between them. Kept them apart. Like the lines that separates yin from yang. Good from evil.

She took a few quick steps toward Red John and the girl, which in turn made him grab the girl with one arm across her chest and pull her backwards.

_"Ah ah. Not so fast. I still have a trick or two up my sleeve."_ She looked down at his free hand and saw that he'd literally had something up his sleeve. A knife. The girl seemed oblivious to the immediate danger she was in, and Lisbon thanked God for that at least.

_"Okay, Okay."_ She held up her hands just in front of her body, trying to calm the situation down a little. _"Just tell me what you want and we'll take it from there." _

_"It depends..." _

Great he had to go for being cryptic, why couldn't she just for once get a "normal" psychopath that wasn't into mind games. _"It depends on what?"_ She asked.

_"On Mr. Jane."_ Of course it did, why was she surprised, it wasn't like everything else in her life already seemed to revolve around Jane. He was still being unusually quiet, he hadn't once tried to kill the man, which she found strange, after all the many times he'd sworn to do just that. But maybe Red John had said something to Jane before she happened to wake up in the middle of this ridiculous situation. Something definitely had transpired. She just wished she knew what, or that somebody would tell her.

_"Jane?! Jane?!" _

_"Hmm?"_ He seemed distracted, maybe he was going into shock. After all it wasn't every day you met your nemesis. And the last time he'd been a mess too.

_"Jane, are you alright? You need to focus!"_ She could hear the other man grin at her efforts. _"Jane, what does he want you to do? Tell me!" _

Jane looked from Lisbon to Red John and back again, then said resignedly: _"He wants me to believe his truth." _

What on earth did that mean? Lisbon just couldn't understand this screwed up relationship these two had going on. _"Then say you believe him so we can get out of here."_ She almost hissed at him.

_"That won't do it Lisbon. There's more to the story." _

_"What is it? You need to tell me, or I'll get him to. Don't keep me in the dark, Jane, I mean it!" _

Jane swallowed hard, looked at Red John as if to get his approval. Red John had released the girl and was now just observing the two of them.

* * *

**A/N:** *I know the correct phrase is the 'in the lion's den' but I were thinking with all the _'tiger, tiger'_ stuff going on, it would be okay to change it and I had hoped it would make sense too, so this is just in case it didn't or you found it annoying or something like that.


	5. Chapter 5

**Disclaimer: **This is getting ridiculous, I don't own The Mentalist, not even a little bit.

* * *

This whole setup was stupid, Jane couldn't believe what he was about to say, but it had to be done if they wanted a chance to get out alive. He took a deep breath and then started Red John's tale, making sure to stress the fact that this was solely Red John's story, and that he believed it to be very farfetched. He told her that on that fateful night 10 years ago he came home, not to find his family murdered but to find Red John in his house, and that apparently he'd hypnotized all of them into believing they were somebody else. Then Red John had murdered some other people and put them in the bedroom and made Jane think they were his family.

Lisbon listened intently, and when he finished she asked: _"So what happened to your 'real' family?"_

At this point Red John interrupted: _"Uhh, that's the best part."_

Lisbon ignored him and looked at Jane with questioning eyes.

_"He says..." _

_"What Jane?"_ She was getting impatient.

_"He says..."_ his eyes darted to Red John, _"... you're my wife, and that's our daughter."_ He nodded in direction of the girl.

_"What?!"_ Lisbon was left staring wide-eyed at Jane who currently seemed to be very interested in the floor. _"That's absurd!" _

_"That's what I said." _Jane agreed.

Red John quipped in: _"Well it's the God's honest truth."_

_"It doesn't even make any sense."_ She turned to face Red John and within seconds she changed from confused to angry. _"Why would you want us to believe such a thing? Haven't you caused this man enough pain? Who do you think you are? Playing God with other people's emotions like that, what kind of sick freak are you? I mean, who does that?"_

Nothing she said seemed to rattle Red John.

_"We'll never believe any of this! Never!" _

_"Never say never, Teresa. Never is a very long time." _

_"You know what screw you, you..."_ Jane saw her getting ready to launch at him and had to grab her before she did anything foolish. Holding her back wasn't easy the way she fought and wiggled, trying to get free so she could get to Red John. She was furious, fire burned behind her eyes and she kept yelling _"Jane let me go, let me go... Jane!" _

Jane was surprised at himself for actually having the strength to hold her back. She was usually very calm and collected, losing control like this was a first, so he knew he had to keep a cool head and be the voice of reason for once. _"Lisbon! Lisbon calm down. Don't let him get to you."_ It took a while, but she finally cooled down enough that he dared to let her go. _"You alright? I'm gonna release you now, ok. Don't do anything stupid. Ok?"_ She nodded. He let go keeping his hand out to the side in a surrendering gesture. She took a deep breath, bend forward touching her hands to her knees, as she straightened up once again, her hair made a half circle in the air, she was now hiding her face behind her hands, trying to compose her dignity by setting her mask back in its place.

When she finally looked up and back into the elated face of Red John, there were nothing but hate left in her eyes. Jane looked at her and saw himself. That crazy look she said he got every time Red John was involved in a case, she had it. That's when he realized that he and Red John were alike, pushing people over the edge, making their life miserable and taking away their humanity so all that's left is hate. He couldn't allow this to happen, not to a person as sweet and caring as Lisbon. So he made a decision. _"I believe you, I believe you. You can hypnotize me, or unhypnotize me or do whatever you want, just please let them go."_ A crooked smirk appeared on the other man's face.

_"Jane, what the hell are you doing? Have you gone crazy? Stop it, just stop it!"_ Lisbon felt like crying, but no tears came. This was a nightmare!

_"Very well, Mr. Jane, but I can only give you half of that." _

Before Jane could open his mouth to protest, Red John - feeling this charade had gone on long enough - snapped his fingers and both Lisbon and the girl collapsed simultaneously on the floor, Jane only just caught Lisbon so she didn't bump her head too bad.

_"What did you do?" _

_"Don't worry so much, Mr. Jane. I will unhypnotize all of you, and then we'll see what happens."_

* * *

**A/N:** I don't necessary believe RJ and Jane are alike, maybe they have some traits in common, but you can say that about everyone. I don't know.


	6. Chapter 6

**Disclaimer:** I have no affiliation to The Mentalist at all.

* * *

Red John's soothing voice eventually led Jane back to that night again. The hall, the living room, his scared wife sitting on a chair with their child. He watched as a younger version of Red John overpowered him, tied him up, and made him watch as he hypnotized his two girls until they didn't recognize him or each other.

It was like having an out-of-the-body experience, he knew he was in a trance, and he watched him watch himself. He could feel the warm tears flowing down his cheeks, as he sat like spellbound and continued to watch his forgotten memories. He saw his wife who was now Lisbon leave the house and not even giving him a second glance, just disappearing out of his life, and he saw Red John pick up his little girl and say: _"You're such a pretty little girl, you wanna go home with daddy?"_ Charlotte just smiled and snuggled her curly haired head into Red John's chest. _"Okay, now daddy has some stuff to do first, so you'll have to wait in the car, okay sweetheart."_ Jane cringed.

When Red John came back it was with two bodies, Jane studied their faces closely, it was the faces of the people he, over the course of the last ten years, had thought were his family. These were the people whose memories he'd clinged to in his quest for revenge, this unknown family of his, he didn't even know if the two of them were related. They looked like each other sure, and to a certain extend they looked like his real family, only lighter in their whole appearance. He guessed the resemblance made it easier to make him believe the lie, and as a hypnotist he knew that it always was easier to work with the light, because you could couple it up with good things, and the memories would then be better layered in the brain.

He watched Red John drag the poor soulless bodies up the stairs and heard him rummaging around up there. Then he came back and the brainwashing began. He couldn't see this part clearly, the images blurred out and melted together in strange formations. The next clear thing he remembered was coming home again, going into the house, moving Charlotte's pink tricycle out of the way, going up the stairs to the bedroom, seeing the note and finding his family… dead.

Red John woke the slightly shaking Jane from his trance. _"Now you know the truth."_ Jane just nodded. Now he knew. He believed. His family wasn't dead. The question was why was Red John revealing this to him now, he'd gotten away with it, he'd broken him beyond repair, he'd won, so why?

Red John looked inquisitively at him. _"You must be wondering why I'm doing this."_ Jane felt like he'd turned to glass - that must be what all the people he'd conned felt like - this man could see right through him, read his mind, it was a scary feeling.

_"What happens now?" _

_"Now it's their turn."_ He pointed at the two lifeless forms on the floor_. "Do you want them to remember the last ten years or not?"_ Jane shrugged. He was emotionally drained and didn't feel like he could make such a decision under the current circumstances. _"We'll try it both ways then, and you can decide which one you like the best."_ The way Red John said it almost sounded like a nice teacher talking to an indecisive child, helping them make a choice by presenting both options.

He did Lisbon first. Whispered words to her that Jane was too far away to hear, then he tapped her on her upper right arm. She opened her eyes, looked around this way and that, until her eyes met his. _"Patrick what is going on? Where is all our stuff?"_ She saw the other man and a chill ran through her body_. "Who are you?" _

_"I'm John,"_ he extended a hand to shake hers _"and who are you, dear?"_

She shook his hand with hesitation, _"I'm Angela, Patrick's wife."_ Jane sighed audibly from his position. She got a worried look in her eyes. _"Excuse me,"_ she said to the stranger and went over to her husband._ "Patrick what's going on?" _She repeated.

As soon as she was within arm's reach he pulled her into a tight clingy hug and fresh tears fell from his eyes making her hair damp. She pulled away a little. _"Are you alright?"_ True concern emanated from her.

_"I'm fine. Never better." _A constricted smile formed on his lips remembering the last time he'd spoken that exact same sentence to her.

_"You sure?" _

_"Yes."_ He could see from her expression that she wasn't buying it, but she let it go, feeling this was neither the time nor the place to push him on the matter.

_"Where's Charlotte and where are our furniture?" _She dialed down her tone a little as she discreetly nodded towards Red John and continued:_ "and who's that man?" _

He didn't know what to say: _"It's a long story," _was all he could come up with.


	7. Chapter 7

**Disclaimer:** If you've gotten this far and thinks I own The Mentalist I'd be worried.

* * *

While they'd been talking Red John had done his number on Charlotte. She had just been a little girl back then, he wondered how she would react if he didn't make her remember the last ten years, would she still have the mind of a child, he might have to tweak it a little. He had watched her grow up, and almost thought of her as his own…, almost.

_"Mom? Dad?"_ Both Jane and Angela turned around at the sound.

_"Angela, this is your daughter, Charlotte."_ The man said like he was narrating their life story.

_"No, she's not Charlotte. My baby is only four. This girl is more like fourteen." _

_"Mom? Dad? What's happened?" _

_"Patrick, why does she...?" _

_"She's our daughter. I know it's hard to believe Teresa, but it's true."_ Jane realized his mistake as soon as the name left his lips, but old habits die hard and seeing her as Angela seemed both very familiar, but also very strange and new.

_"Teresa?! Who's Teresa? Patrick I demand an explanation, what's going on here?" _

_"What's the last thing you remember?" _

_"I... I don't know, it's kind of fuzzy." _

He nodded, expecting this. _"You've kinda been asleep for the past ten years." _

_"What do you mean asleep? Have I been in a coma? What?" _

_"No, not exactly. I'll explain later. Let's just go. Charlotte come on, we're leaving." _

They all turned to leave, when Red John said: _"Are you just gonna leave me here?" _

_"Yes. That was the plan. Wasn't this what you wanted? I believe you now, we all do." _

_"So you're just giving up on revenge. Think about all I've robbed you off, the time you could have spent with your family. Charlotte's childhood. Aren't you at all curious about where or with whom she's been, how I raised her?"_ The words stung like needles and polluted Jane's mind like a poison. He felt guilty for giving up so easily and a surge of anger washed over him. Red John might not have taken his family after all but he had robbed him of some of the precious years they could've had, and he was still a monster that didn't deserve to live. He had his hands around his neck before he had even perceived of the idea. Red John made no move to defend himself.

There was a loud outcry: _"NO! DON'T HURT HIM!"_ It was Charlotte. Jane let go and the man fell to the floor clutching his neck and panting to catch his breath. He should have known that Red John had had the sense to install a hypnotic suggestion in his daughter so Jane couldn't kill him without causing her to feel hurt by that action or possibly hate him for it. It was unnerving.

As Red John once again emerged from the floor, he had his uncanny smile plastered back on his face.

Jane closed his eyes and sighed inwardly. _"Okay I give up. I'll do whatever you want. Just tell me what to do." _

_"I want you to suffer!"_ The words remained hanging in the air like a bad smell. Nobody said anything. Nobody dared.

Jane wanted to ask 'why?' Was slandering the serial killer on national TV really worth 10 years of pain and suffering?

Red John snapped his fingers again and three masked men appeared out of nowhere. Each one of his disciples took hold of one of them.

Red John nodded and the man holding Jane pulled him roughly backwards and sat him down on a chair, then continued to tie him to it.

'This is getting old' Jane thought wryly.

Red John picked up on it. _"Mr. Jane, am I boring you?"_ No reply. _"If you think 10 years of suffering is boring I can easily give you a lifetime of anguish." _

Jane knew what he had in mind, so he needed to buy time to figure out some kind of escape from this nightmare. _"You've already done that. If you do it again it won't change anything."_ Keep him talking was the only thing he could think of. Well as long as he was talking he wasn't killing anybody.

_"Ahh but see, last time was a test of your medal. Now you know just how powerful I am. Nobody can stop me! Not even you." _

_"Okay so what's your plan? Hypnotize me to make me cluck like a chicken? Sing like a bird? No, no I know bark like a dog." _

_"Hmpf"_ Red John let out a small puff of condescending air. _"Don't think your humor or mind tricks are going to save you, 'cause they're not. Mark my words, if you think you've suffered before it'll be nothing compared to this."_ His sinister smile had turned serious, his gleeful eyes had darkened with hatred. _"You're going to beg me for mercy. You're going to beg me to kill you." _

_"Now that statement is a little contradictory, don't you think?"_ Jane fired back.

Red John ignored his remark. _"Don't say I didn't warn you."_ He went over to where Angela and Charlotte were passively standing, between the three men. He was accessing the situation. Jane watched as Red John took a hold of one of Angela's stray curls, delicately twirling it around his fingers a few times. Then he grabbed a chunk of hair, latched on tight and pulled violently down, until she was kneeling in front of him. She let out a little yelp. Jane stiffened a bit.

_"Please let them go, they have nothing to do with this." _

_"Are we up to begging already? That was fast." _A dark glint appeared in his eyes._ "And no, they're not getting out of here alive. There's no poetic justice in this story Mr. Jane." _

_"Screw poetic justice, just go to hell!"_ Jane was clearly upset, otherwise he'd never talk like this.

_"I thought we'd been over this, there's no hell. If there were it'd be a breeze compared to where I'm sending you. Now if you don't want poetry let me paint you a picture. Why don't we take a stroll up to the master bedroom?"_ Jane felt like screaming, not that it would do any good, besides he couldn't, he felt frozen in time and place. He hadn't had time to process getting his family back, and now he was going to lose them again, not to mention Lisbon was somehow lost in there too and she couldn't save him like she usually did. Red John signaled his minions then turned and ascended the stairs with Jane's family, leaving Jane all alone in the living room.


	8. Chapter 8

**Disclaimer: **All hail the mighty Bruno Heller, 'cause he owns The Mentalist and I don't.

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He was surrounded by complete silence. Time crept by and Jane tried his best to free his hands from the bonds, but he wasn't an escape artist. The most disturbing part was that he couldn't hear anything, not a cry or a single scream. The silence was torture, it made his mind conjure up all kinds of possible scenarios, one more gruesome than the next. Finally after what felt like hours he gave up trying to break free. It wasn't for lack of trying though, his bloody wrists bore testament to that fact. Exhausted by the effort and sorrow struck he let his head rest on his chest. Not long after, two of Red John's henchmen came back down and untied him. _"He's ready for you now."_ One of them said. For a second Jane thought he recognized the voice, but he let it go. Mindless followers weren't the issue right now, the big dog was. They shoved him up the stairs. On the very last step he was gripped by a sense of dread. He had walked this walk too many times, the end result was never pretty. That red smiley face adorning the wall, and over the years had pushed its way in to inhabit the innermost sides of his brain as well, keeping him awake.

His heart were pounding as he reached the door, took hold of the cold steel knob, turning it and to his surprise saw the same old smiley as always, painted on the wall in what he'd thought were the blood of his family. There was nothing different in the room except the four living people respectively sitting and standing in there. In fact nobody looked hurt, but the atmosphere had changed somehow. Jane let out a breath he didn't know he'd been holding in. A little more carbon dioxide in the room was not what was going to kill them.

Worried eyes from the woman on the mattress met his. _"Jane? Are you alright?"_ As soon as the words left her mouth, Jane knew it was Teresa and not Angela talking. Charlotte was snuggled into Teresa's side, her face hidden, but from her posture it looked like she'd been crying. A wrinkle appeared above Jane's eyebrows, why had Red John hypnotized them back? What was his end game here?

_"Teresa, are you okay?" _

_"Yes we're fine, but I don't understand what's going on. I feel so weird." _

_"What did he do to you?" _

"I don't know, I think he hypnotized us. My head is full of familiar memories Patrick, it doesn't make sense."

_"Angela?!" _

_"Yes... and, and No. I don't know. My head is spinning." _

_"Why?"_ He was addressing Red John now.

_"Because I can."_ Came the smug answer.

_"You can't let her be two people at once, she'll go crazy." _

_"Don't worry, she's still just adjusting. The strongest personality will win out in the end, usually it's the one with the most memories, I'm guessing Angela, but I could be wrong, I did make Teresa a tad fiercer than your wife, I needed her to be able to stand by your side and remain there. You can be quite a handful, Mr. Jane, a hard man to love." _His eerie smile appeared and he continued. _"But isn't it wonderful to know you've fallen in love with the same woman twice? Different aspects of her psyche though, but still. It must be divine to love and be loved like that." _

_"Yeah you wouldn't know anything about that." _

_"Oh I don't know, Charlotte what do you think?"_  
A head turned to look at Jane and dampened eyes begged him as her voice pleaded. _"Dad I know what he's done now, but please don't kill him. He's the only father I've known." _

Jane looked resignedly at Red John. _"So now we are all who we were originally and we remember what you've done to us the years we've been apart. Now what?" _

_"Now the real show starts." _


	9. Chapter 9

**Disclaimer: **I own my imagination and the will and means to play with other people's intellectual property.

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He was tied up again, and so were his family. The three minions were nowhere to be seen. He was powerless but he'd been powerless before. Red John had killed his family and there were nothing he could have done. But this time was even worse. Red John was going to kill his family again, and this time it was right in front of him and there were nothing he could do but watch.

_"You know what Mr. Jane, this time is gonna be very special for both you and me. I get to kill not two people you love, but three."_ It took Jane a minute to catch up, then he realized both Charlotte, Angela, and Lisbon were going to die, and there'd be no one left to pick up the pieces afterwards.

Now he kinda regretted not calling the team before rushing over here.

They were seated across from each other in a triangular formation where he was at the top angle, and the women were seated at the two bottom ones. Red John was standing on the bottom line right between them.

_"Who are we going to begin with?... This one?"_ he said and walked in a circle around Charlotte. _"...or this one?"_ he said as he went across and made a similar tour around Angela/Lisbon, completing his infinity walk around the two chairs he ending up in the same exact spot, between the two slash three most important people in his life.

Jane hoped he wasn't going to be the one to make the choice, it would be an impossible task to place upon him. Like seeing his family die wasn't bad enough already.

Red John looked over at him, and as he'd done all night he knew what he was thinking by reading his reactions. Jane normally wasn't this transparent, but he was on edge here and hiding behind his usual masks wasn't exactly his greatest concern at the moment.

_"Don't worry Mr. Jane, I might be a lot of things but unnecessary cruel is not one of them, I'd never put such a pressure on you."_ His crooked smile, that Jane had come to hate over these past hours, made its appearance yet again before he continued. _"...Mainly because that would put you in a position of control, and we can't have that now, can we? Not after all I've done to strip you of any power you might think you have over me or anybody else. The truth is you're nothing but a helpless, little, impotent, bottom feeder." _Red John bend down and came one step closer with each new colorful adjective he added to the description of Jane, until he was standing right in front of him at eyelevel. Jane briefly flashed back to the last time he had been tied to a chair with Red John this close. It hadn't been pleasant back then either.

Red John moved his head to the side of Jane's and whispered in his ear, _"I think I'll start with your lovely wife. You'll get to hear her scream once again, or maybe it'll be Teresa that screams, don't tell me you haven't longed to hear her do that."_ The glee in his voice made Jane shutter, and as Red John pulled away Jane closed his eyes to avoid seeing the dark abyss of murdering intent in the other man's glance. But as he heard the man's footsteps slowly retract he had to open his eyes again. He needed to see this, no matter how much it would torture him, all this was his fault after all. And he needed to be present in the moment or he would regret it, he unfortunately had already had firsthand experience with that fact.

Jane didn't see where the knife had come from, suddenly it was just there, in Red John's hand. For a moment Jane wondered if it was the same knife he used to kill all his victims, then he decided it didn't really matter and tried once again to set his mind in escape mode. He just couldn't let this be the end of his quest. He'd had an entirely different scenario of how it might be in his head, and this was nowhere near close, in fact this had to be one of the few scenarios he absolutely hadn't imagined or thought possible.

The room was devoid of any sounds as the knife punctured her skin and a thin line of red liquid followed the trail the knife made. Red John stood with his back to him as he pushed the knife gently to her skin and drew lines across her body as naturally as a child puts crayons to paper. There were no screams. Neither Angela nor her alter ego Teresa made a sound. That was his girl, trying to be strong for his sake. The woman just pressed her lips tightly together until they turned white.

Red John stopped temporarily, and she exhaled heavily a few times before looking up and meeting Jane's eyes. Red John had turned to look at him too: _"Now, this is a disappointment."_ Nobody answered him. _"How long do you think it'll take to get a sound out of this one? How many cuts?"_ He didn't wait for an answer, just turned around abruptly and with no warning whatsoever he plunged the knife deep into her left thigh. This time she screamed. Surprise mixed with the sudden pain had caught her of guard. It was loud and nerve-wracking, but didn't last very long. She doubled over as far as her restraints allowed her to and took control of her emotions as best as she could. Only faint whimpers escaped her as Red John yanked her back up into a straight seating position again. Charlotte was crying, she probably couldn't believe the man she'd thought to be her father for so long would hurt the woman, that was her actual mother, like that. Jane was crying as well, do to his inescapable powerlessness. Even Red John shed a few elated tears. The only one that wasn't crying was the one that should have been. This just proved that she'd always been the strong one.

_"Please stop. Please let them go. They're innocent. Please. I'll do anything." _

_"And we're back to begging it seems."_ Red John mocked. _"I think we're past that stage, don't you? You might as well accept your faith, surrender to the circumstances, you have no one left to save you. Your heroine here hasn't that much fight left in her. She's just the scared little mouse of the wife you once had. Senior Agent Teresa Lisbon was never real. She doesn't exist. I made her up. One of my more brilliant moves, I must say."_

Being confident was one thing, but Red John was displaying more than a little overconfidence here. He had done so most of the night and Jane hoped it eventually would be his downfall. But right at this very moment Red John had the upper hand and the prospects seemed pretty gloomy.

He continued his evil monologue. _"Maybe we should raise the stakes a little."_ He said and pulled the knife forcefully from where he had left it, protruding from Angela's/Teresa's leg. A sharp intake of breath was her only giveaway. Even when the dark and deep red fluid started oozing from the wound she kept a straight face. With defiance in her eyes she stared the perpetrator right in the face. Jane could see just how hard she was fighting, she was clearly paling and a line of sweat had broken out over her brow. She was losing too much blood and he was losing her.

* * *

**A/N:** Did the infinity walk make sense? Just to clarify in case it didn't - he walked around the chairs so he made an 8 lying down also known as an infinity sign.


	10. Chapter 10

**Disclaimer: **That's a big fat no to owning anything.

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Jane still had trouble coming to terms with the fact that Angela and Lisbon was the same person. If they ever got out of here alive what was he gonna call her, Angela? Teresa? Lisbon? Would she still wanna be his wife? Would they share the rest of their life together? Or move on? Go their separate ways? He wasn't sure Angela would have been able to withstand torture like this, but Lisbon certainly could, and that gave him a small speck of hope that this person sitting before him containing two such beautiful souls wasn't just a frightened mouse as Red John thought but a fierce tiger as well. A creature of his own making, the creature that would be his ruin.

Having been too wrapped up in his own thoughts he hadn't noticed Red John moving over to stand next to Charlotte, so Red John announced his own presence by making a superficial cut on her arm, she cried out in pain, and both her parents yelled at him in return. _"She's just a kid, leave her alone." "You son of a bitch I'm gonna kill you." _

Another smile. _"I can see why the two of you work so well together. You complement each other. You Mr. Jane, the softy, and you Ms. Angela? Teresa? You're the tough one. Isn't that just like women, taking charge, getting things done. Maybe I underestimated your pretty little wife here."_ He said while walking back, grabbing her jaw, lifting her face up and shaking her head from side to side a few times. He let go then walked back to the girl. _"Now where was I?"_

_"You're not going to hurt her, you can't." _

_"Now why would you say that Mr. Jane?" _

_"You've watched her grow up, she's like a daughter to you." _It hurt him to say the words, but if it could save her life he had to do it.

_"Ha, unlike you I'm not ruled by my emotions, and that's why I'll be the one left standing in the end." _

_"If you've ever read her a single fairytale or watched a children's movie you'll know good always triumphs over evil in the end." _

_"That Mr. Jane is exactly why they call them fairytales in the first place, because they're not real. And who says I'm the bad guy here." _

_"You __**kill**__ people!" _

_"Ahh, look it all comes down to a matter of perspective. And as far as I remember you once told an associate of mine that there's no right or wrong, there's only stuff that happens." _

_"I have proof you know." _Jane continued.

_"What are you talking about?" _A hint of confusing was traceable in Red John's voice.

_"Look at the way you cut her, and then look at the way you cut Lisbon. It's superficial vs. brutal."_ He had given up on what name he should use to refer to the woman he loved, and just chosen the one he'd grown accustomed to using these past ten years. It was a point to be argued later.

_"Is that what you think? Well I'm just getting started. Don't worry, I can be brutal!" _

Jane swallowed a lump. Red John raised the blade in front of the frightened teenager ready to attack his prey. But then Jane saw it, Red John's hand, there were the slightest of tremors, but it was there, and Jane knew he wasn't wrong. He might be able to hurt the girl, but kill her, not a chance.

He slashed her other arm, the wound was deeper this time, but Jane wasn't convinced. It was all for show, to prove Jane was wrong. She cried out.

Poor, pale Lisbon who increasingly had been slumping over quite a bit looked up and to everyone's surprise she stood up, chair still tied to her, (Red John hadn't bothered tying up their feet). And as if out of some silly movie she ran straight towards Red John, hitting him side on with the rather heavy chair, knocking him to the floor, but managed to keep herself upright albeit a bit wavering. Now why didn't he think of that? She kicked the knife out of his reach and continued to kick him until he couldn't get up and she herself collapsed out of exhaustion. The chair dragging her down with it. He was in shock, what the hell just happened? It must be right what they say about a mother's love for their children, it works as a kind of adrenaline when the offspring is in danger. A very useful protector instinct, it seems, making sure the genes survive and all that. Darwin's got a point, survival of the fittest were right he thought, and after the kickboxing match he'd just witnessed, no one would ever convince him otherwise.

He wondered for a short time where Red John's three little helpers had run of to, and why they hadn't come in with all that noise that had just transpired. He found he didn't care, he was just happy he didn't have to deal with them as well. He stood up as Lisbon had done, although slower and more careful, then he went over to Charlotte who was just staring at her mother and her attacker, obviously in shock. Then he knelt down, which wasn't easy with a chair tied behind your back. He only dignified Red John a glance to make sure he was out cold. Then he concentrated on what was important._ "Lisbon?" _His voice was just above a soft whisper. _"Lisbon, can you hear me?"_ No reaction. _"Lisbon, please open your eyes."_ It took a little while, but she did it eventually. She smiled at his worried expression, then closed her eyes once again. He became a little frantic, he couldn't even use his hands to try and shake her awake again. He knew what he had to do, he needed to get this chair of right now. He stood up again and went over to Charlotte, looked her in the eye and said _"We have to get out of here. First we have to get these robes off, I'm gonna go around behind you and we'll try to loosen each other's ties, okay sweetheart."_ She just nodded still looking at the people on the floor. He followed her gaze. _"Don't mind him, your mom knocked him out pretty well."_ Then he did as he'd said. And once again cursed himself for not being an escape artist. In the end however, they still managed to break lose. He got her untied first. And then it was easier for her to untie the rest of his robes.

He tossed his phone to Charlotte, and told her to call 911, which she did as he focused on tending to Lisbon. He didn't know for how long the serial killer would be out so after he'd woken Lisbon he and Charlotte, supporting her on either side, helped each other getting her and themselves out of the room and made sure to block the entrance. There was no one waiting for them out in the hall. No surprise attacks, luckily. Jane still found it odd that Red John's henchmen seemed to have just vanished into thin air.

Not long passed before several police vehicles, an ambulance and a familiar CBI van appeared at the house. The team followed by SWAT was the firsts to enter the house. Relief was plastered on the teams faces as soon as they saw that Jane and Lisbon were relatively unharmed, and they were quick to get the medics to look over Lisbon and the girl, Jane too, but only after he was sure the others were well taken care of. After both SWAT, the team, and the regular police officers had swept the house top to bottom they came out empty handed. No minions, but also no Red John. Had it not been for the three witnesses, the blood and the out of place chairs, robes and duct tape, one might have thought that they'd never been there in the first place.

This had been a showdown of mighty proportions in the Red John vs. Patrick Jane book. It had changed everything. The whole game. And of course Red John had disappeared into the night yet again. Leaving behind no trace or clue as to how or why or where. It was always one big puzzle with him. He had once again left behind more questions than answers. But now they knew who he was at least, they'd seen the face of the man behind the mask. It wasn't much, but it was something to go on for now.


	11. Epilogue

**Disclaimer: **I refer you back to all the previous chapters.

* * *

The hard part after this ordeal was adjusting. First of all nobody, including the involved parties, quite believed the story they told. It all just seemed to elaborate a scheme to be the gospel truth. But after some DNA and blood testing and some very deep background checking, people slowly became convinced that Lisbon in fact was none other than the previously-thought-to-be-deceased Mrs. Angela Jane, and the girl was the daughter of both Jane and Lisbon, so who other than Charlotte Jane could she be. Besides she bore and eerily resemblance to the both of them, in other words her looks didn't fool anybody. What was difficult, especially for the aforementioned person's parents was the adaptation to this completely new life of theirs. Finding out you've been living a lie for the past decade and finding out you're not really real, you're somebody else entirely, is quite testing. How do you overcome an obstacle like that? Dwelling on the past seems the worst of ideas, moving forward is what it takes. Though relating to the same situation, each of the three had different issues to work through.

Jane was dealing with having his family back. The guilt over their deaths had not disappeared, but transformed into guilt over not knowing they were alive and not being able to recognize them. To some extend he regretted the years he'd spent dedicated to revenge. Wanting vengeance for something that actually hadn't happened seemed silly. He wasn't going to give up on his revenge though, like the guilt he'd just transformed it into something else. Revenge for the years that had been taken away from him and his family. For all the times they could have been together, but weren't. And there were also a little room in his new revenge for justice for the families of the other victims, that hadn't been as lucky as he had. Particularly the two people that had acted as stand in's for his family, so far their identities were yet to be determined.

Charlotte had to deal with knowing who her actual parents were and the fact that she had grown up with a psycho killer, which didn't really make sense in her head. She was subjected to dozen of psych upon psych evaluation tests until they thought her fit for society. It seemed she had turned out pretty normal for someone growing up with a serial killer as a dad. And she understood people were just making sure she wasn't a ticking time bomb, that her "father" hadn't groomed her to be his apprentice or one of his little minions.

Lisbon was definitely the one, out of the three, that had the most to deal with. The person she thought she was, at least for the last ten years, didn't even exist, and the person she had been, had been dead for ten years. So who was she now? A whole third person, consisting of the two half's?

However that didn't actually make her go crazy like Jane had thought, nor did one personality win out, as was Red John's guess. She was just a vessel that contained the memories of two people, but at times she did feel kinda schizophrenic about that. She answered to both Angela and Teresa, even Mrs. Jane and Lisbon, which sometimes made it feel like she was four people. But she couldn't tell you which one she preferred, they were all her or part of her. Some days she thought she should just change her name to a whole different one altogether. But what would that really help?

The strangest part about this whole ordeal was her feelings and how ambivalent she could feel towards the same things. For instance Angela had never much cared about coffee whereas Teresa gulped it down several times a day, Angela loved cooking, but Teresa didn't much bother for it, they both loved going to the beach though, but still in different ways, it was hard to explain. All these conflicting emotions tore her in different directions.

And it was the same thing for certain people, not that Angela and Teresa knew many of the same people, which was probably why this had worked in the first place, but her two personalities responded differently to people's vibes. There were a lot of things she needed to come to terms with in that respect. Like she knew both Angela and Teresa loved Patrick Jane, but where one was happily married to the guy, the other had yet to accept the fact that she loved him. And to go from that to suddenly being married and having a teenage daughter was a lot to take in at once.

The whole being a mother was a rather big deal for her. Angela had always wanted children, and had loved every moment of it, but she had gone through the whole experience. Being pregnant, giving birth, nursing, and taking care of her offspring. Going from having a four year old to having a fourteen year old in the blink of an eye was what felt strange to her, but she found that she still loved her child. How could she not? She was still her baby. Teresa on the other hand had never really thought about kids or wanting to have them. Having grown up like she had and occupying a dangerous job, children had never really been in the cards for her. But here she was with a teenage daughter, she didn't remember carrying for 9 months or giving birth to or comforting when she had nightmares. Charlotte had just appeared in her life, a little like magic. And as if being a mother wasn't overwhelming enough, she had to find out that the father of her kid was none other than the notorious Patrick Jane, the man she loved, which for its part were the greatest thing about this whole affair. Imagine if she had to add a third man to this insane equation. She was sure without a doubt she'd love Charlotte just the same, she just had to get to know her first.

Then there were all the other people around her. She felt especially ambivalent towards cops of various guises, which wasn't really an advantage, seeing as she as Lisbon was surrounded by them all day. The thing about them were that Angela as a carnie had an inherited distrust of them, so Teresa actually being one herself meant that she couldn't even trust herself, which just added to the rest of the confusion she was experiencing. With all this going on and all these thoughts in her head, she felt it was a wonder that she hadn't gone crazy yet.

Moving on from here was the hardest part. Three people that should have known each other, and to some extend did know each other, but then again not really.

They decided after all the endless test and intimate questions, the poking and prodding, that they would all just go somewhere far away, spend some quality time together and get to know each other again, maybe they wouldn't even come back. What was there to come back to anyway? No real friends, other than the team of course, not a house or a home, not a job, Jane had no reason to work at the CBI anymore, and Teresa was sure Angela couldn't work as a cop. No, they needed a fresh start, they needed to go somewhere completely different and start anew. So that's what they did.

The whole family - 'cause they were a family again now - packed their belongings and went on an extended vacation to Australia. They ended up falling so much in love with the continent and country that they actually decided to stay and built a new life there, rather than going back to Sacramento. And on the plus side about this whole moving straight across the globe and settling down on the other side of the world, it seemed the farthest away from their old life - most of which they'd rather forget - and from Red John, who was still looming around in the Californian back alleys and shadows.

But after more than a decade long search and a lot of personal loss, they all felt they'd more than paid their dues in respect to that particular madman. So they would let it be up to somebody else to handle it and catch the guy. They just hoped he wouldn't cross borders in order to finish what he had started. That if they left him in peace, he'd leave them in peace as well. So they could let go of the hatred and the fear and live out the rest of their life together in quiet peace and harmony, as a family.

* * *

**A/N:** Just a few notes, if you're interested.

I know there are some major holes in this story that couldn't possibly make this a valid theory on the show, like all the people Lisbon worked with before meeting Jane and the whole circus would have known her too, and what about her brothers? Unless RJ had been really sneaky and hypnotized everyone, yeah mass-hypnotism, not very likely I know. RJ does like to hypnotize people, e.g. Kristina Frye, Rosalind Harker, we know that much right. Anyways, AU fic it is then.

I think I kinda muddled around this story, repeating myself quite a lot. I'm sorry I just couldn't stop myself. My muse wanted me to keep writing. Also I think I made Jane repeat himself a few times..., too many? I don't know, but hey the man's upset, and can you really blame him. I'd be to if my whole life was a lie.

Just FYI I have never been to Australia myself, but it's on my list of places to visit... someday.

I felt a little sad that they didn't catch RJ. Leaving him to ravage California wasn't nice of me, but hey he's a hard man to get at, just ask SACPD, the CBI and the FBI.

And it's on purpose I didn't write what Teresa/Angela ended up being called in the end, 'cause I just don't know, I couldn't decide to be honest. Decisions, decisions... and this one was a tough one. I think, as long as they're off somewhere being happy it doesn't matter that much anyway.

I started writing this around the time 'Devil's Cherry' aired, after the spoilers, but before the episode came out. I also got inspired while reading another fic with someone getting hypnotized.

Also I think I left a few lose ends in there somewhere. Both intentionally and unintentionally I'm sure, so sorry about that.

I'm always worried about people following my dialogue, 'cause I myself find it hard in some fics, especially with multiple characters talking at once, suddenly you get confused and don't know who said what, and then it stops making sense. So I just want you to know I try really hard to show who is talking.

**Thank you for reading!**

Usually I don't ask people to review, but I'll make an exception since this is my first multi-chapter fic.

So if you got this far, please review, I'd really like to know what you think. Good? Bad? Ideas? Sequel? Something I could've done differently? I should just stick with one shots? Just say hi :) Tell me anything really! And I will be grateful :D


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